


MCC 14!!

by BraxtonDecrom, CrazyCatMeow, Myre_0



Series: The Meteor Effect [29]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Hermitcraft, MCC (Minecraft Championships), Minecraft - Fandom
Genre: Au (still in minecraft), Baby angst, Dream SMP is a show, Dream SMPers help the hermits, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nice!Dream, hermits are accused of lying, hermits are hybrids, i made em up, not canon MCC teams, some people don’t like this, the hermits have been around for ages, the meteor sucks, you don't really need to read the other works to understand what’s happening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29053641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BraxtonDecrom/pseuds/BraxtonDecrom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyCatMeow/pseuds/CrazyCatMeow, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myre_0/pseuds/Myre_0
Summary: For the first time In Minecraft Championship history we will be allowing you fans onto the server to watch! There will be large arena seating that will allow you to watch what your favorite team is doing. We all hope you enjoy watching MCC 14This is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone fic.
Relationships: n/a
Series: The Meteor Effect [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1529078
Comments: 126
Kudos: 135





	1. Bingo But Fast and Hole In The Wall

**Author's Note:**

> The teams are
> 
> False, Cub, Philza, Scott Major- Green Gazelles
> 
> Techno, Dream, Wilbur, F1nn5ter- Purple Parrots 
> 
> DanTDM, George, Pizza Hut, Hbomb- Teal Tigers
> 
> Fwip, Shubble, Iskall, solitary - Pink Pandas 
> 
> Captain Sparklez, Tubbo, Tommy, Fundy- Yellow Yaks
> 
> Fruit berries, quig, mini Muka, Nihachu- Orange Otters
> 
> Eret, punzz, tapll, Burren- lime lambs 
> 
> Grian, Pearl, Ren, and Little Woods- Red Ravens 
> 
> sapnapp, Karl, purpled , and Smallish beans- Gray Goats
> 
> Illumina, Quackity, Kara, and Krinios- Blue Bears

Everyone on the hermitcraft server is jittery with anticipation, it’s the first day of the Minecraft Championships! Many of the hermits are going to compete this time and the first time people would be allowed on the server to watch the games so nerves are tense but more with excitement rather the anxiety. 

Ren, Iskall, Grian, False, and Cub are all competing in this month’s Championship games, and excitement radiated off the contestants.

“Ok, do you have everything you need?” Xisuma asks, his tail flicking as he looks over each of the hermits, checking and double-checking their packs for the proper supplies. His eyes flicking between his admin panels and the group before him, ensuring a mode of safe transport. 

“Yep,” Ren grins his tail wagging.

“Do you have the full moon stuff?” Xisuma grins.

Ren’s ears pin back to his head. “Give me one moment,” he says, before running off to collect his pack.

Xisuma laughs softly, “Well, double-check your stuff, and if you forget anything we can bring it over for you.”

False grins, “You guys are coming?”

“Yep, MCC sent server mates private invites to exclusive box seats.”

“And we didn’t know about this?” Cub teases softly.

“I was told to surprise you.”

“Who else knew?” Grian chirps fluttering up to perch on a fence.

“Everyone except for Mumbo and Scar,” Xisuma answers; those two can’t keep a secret to save their lives.

As Ren runs back over he spots his fellow contestants all slumped over laughing. Xisuma is leaning against a nearby tree.

“What happened here?”

“You’ll see,” Xisuma calls as he teleports them over to the MCC server.

As usual, the server’s hub is a mess of people rushing around getting signed in and finding their teammates. Some had already gathered while others could be found still talking with friends before the games were to begin. Nervous gitty runs through the competitors. The months-long break only built more hype and excitement than anyone could have imagined. The event organizers sought to match this excitement with the team-ups they had picked out, the announcements have been posted just about everywhere.

False, Cub, Philza, Scott Major- Green Gazelles

Techno, Dream, Wilbur, F1nn5ter- Purple Parrots 

DanTDM, George, Pizza Hut, Hbomb- Teal Tigers

Fwip, Shubble, Iskall, solitary - Pink Pandas 

Captain Sparklez, Tubbo, Tommy, Fundy- Yellow Yaks

Fruit berries, quig, mini Muka, Nihachu- Orange Otters

Eret, punzz, tapll, Burren- lime lambs 

Grian, Pearl, Ren, and Little Woods- Red Ravens 

sapnapp, Karl, shubble, and Smallish beans- Gray Goats

Illumina, Quackity, Kara, and Krinios- Blue Bears

A blonde teenager runs past screaming his head off, he’s followed by a blur of orange and a young adult with brown hair. They are running from their fourth teammate screeching something about a curse.

The tournament server has always been chaos, but it’s a nice sort of chaos. In a warm friendly sort of way, like seeing friends or family after being away for a long time type of chaos, with stories of exploits and adventure shared between one another before the competitions pits them against one another. 

The other teams have scattered around the plaza and are chattering ‘calmly’ waiting for the bell to ring.

The sounds of people laughing echo as people start to file into the voting dome. The dome sits within a ring lined with a cheering and screaming audience. Banners and signs are decorated in support of the different teams, creating a collage of colors. 

Tommy high fives Dream and Techno before rushing off to go find his teammates. As everyone jumps into the pods laughing and pushing each other around, the arena lights up. 

It’s a beautiful mess of colors and sounds as the chickens pop into existence. 

As the chickens flutter down Grian fluffs his wings out and flaps a few feet off the ground, Ren getting smacked a little in the process.

Many in the stands gawk at the hermits, merely hearing rumors of the server that changes those who lived within its domain there but never truly seeing those affected by the changes. Hushed whispers ripple through the audience at the sight of the hermits. Distaste and mistrust lace their muttering. The harsh murmuring is quickly killed off as the music floods out of the stadium speakers and Bingo! But Fast flashes up on the screen. Cheers erupt from the crowd as exasperate groans escape from the contestants. The voting chamber quickly fades away as trees and overgrowth fill the area around the contestants, bringing them to the new world ready for the game to begin.

Ren’s tail wags excitedly as everyone gets ready to rush off and fill out the bingo cards. It’s not the most exciting game by a long shot but, it’s a pretty easy start. 

As the clock ticks down Grian and Philza flick their wings open preparing to take flight. When they take off Philza grins up at Grian, as everyone starts looking for the needed items.

When the contestants start rushing off it's clear there’s some difference in speed. The contestants with wings are much faster and can tell their teams which way to go.

Sapnap glances at his card, quickly taking stock of what materials items call for before delegating the different pieces to each of his team members. Karl and Sap take off towards a nearby cave going for the stone while Shubble and Smallish go to collect wood and sticks from the trees nearby. 

Shubble takes off like a shot looking for clay in a pond with Iskall grabbing some rudimentary tools that Fwip and Solitary had crafted to go look iron. 

Fruit Berries speeds through the landscape, grabbing any goods he can find and bringing them back to Niki to craft the items, like books. While Quig and Muka work together to get the more difficult components together as they take off deeper in the foliage. 

Phil takes to the sky in an attempt to get the pieces that were further out from their team's warp point. False and Cub run to grab plants and materials before they get ambushed by one of the other teams. Scott diligently shaping the materials in an array of different items 

HBomb runs into different teams, ending in different scuffles, while out grabbing goods and ends up limping back to the makeshift hub area for the Teal Tigers. George quickly grabs the materials from Hbomb before passing him some food to hopefully heal up before he races back out amongst trees. Pizza Hut and Dan mine away at the stone grabbing any ores within reach before returning to the surface to dump them before running out to get more. 

Dream and Techno rampage through the terrain, bantering back and forth with one another as they grab at any item components and chase after the other teams for their resources. The pink-haired young man growls as he pursues the different teams, hoping to steal the already collected materials. Wilbur and Fin work quickly to gather any piece not stolen by the madmen and set to work crafting the piece with practiced ease. 

Grain darts above the treeline, snagging sugar cane and grains of wheat before returning to drop off the plants to Little Woods as he sets to add the last few ingredients to the cake batter. Ren dashes through the forest and plains with his supply of wood and clay, nearly losing all of his resources when he runs into Sap and Karl, barely managing to fend them off before leaping over a river that would be too wide for any normal human to cross easily. His tail wags happily as he blots into some trees.

Eret crafts each item he can make. For a while Punz and Tapls act as guards and run, defending the builder while his expert hands work hypnotically to craft each item as fast as he can from the bingo sheet. Burren keeps a somewhat steady supply of materials coming as he outruns opposing team members. 

Chaotic screams echo out from Quackity as Techno chances him down for his gathered resources. Illumia slips past the two with another load of logs for Kara while Krinios exits the makeshift mine he had set up before rushing over the furnace that Kara had crafted early in the game to smelt the gold and iron ore for the raw metal. 

Tommy and Tubbo work as a chaotic well-oiled machine under the Captain’s eye and order, gathering resources and fending off other teams is a great success, leaving Fundy to craft the items called for by bingo card. 

By the end of the first round, it’s clear that having wings was a distinct advantage before they had to go underground. As usual, there’s a bit of good-natured grumbling through the contestants, but since the purple parrots had won the game it doesn’t even matter.

To the people watching from the stands, it's a completely different matter, people start screaming and arguing about the use of wings… but only with Grian’s team. They don’t mention Philza at all, the man had earned his wings long ago and no one is willing to threaten him over it.

It’s fairly common with hardcore players, they don’t die or take their elytra off which causes makes so that it starts to fuse to their backs. So when they respawn in the hardcore hub occasionally the elytra respawns with them, merging and becoming a part of their body. 

If this happens the watchers give an option, to either remove the elytra or fully fuse it to their backs turning them into large feathered wings. Most players choose to remove the elytra and not have to bother with custom clothing or them being an actual limb that can get injured.

Philza had a fairly special case, he had lived for five years, without dying. So when the baby zombie finally killed him he was out for over a week. When he woke up his elytra had started to grow feathers. A very frazzled watcher had murmured something about an old legend about the Void and End having creatures that were the source of the elytra and how those creatures would give their blessings to select players. 

Of course, those were only rumors that were passed by the oldest of worlds’ inhabitants. 

The game concludes and the contestants warp back the voting area before the Championships break for lunch, with contestants flooding out of the dome and into the large area surrounding the voting arena only for contestants and select guests. Some race to get food provided by the Event organizers, others meeting up with homeworld friends that had brought food. The general audience isn’t allowed into the courtyard area, but Family and server mates are welcome.

The hermits enter into the large courtyard surrounding the voting arena, packs and travel bags slung over shoulders and backs. Chatting amongst themselves searching for a place to have their lunch. Soon they find a place that satisfies their eclectic groups' needs, providing enough shade for the hermits more solarly challenged with enough space for those who might need to stretch inhuman legs and perfectly placed next to a pond. 

Lunches and meals are unpacked and passed around, till every hermit has some food, catering to any dietary needs that had been acquired over the year and a half. Laughter and conversation flow easily from the hermits, picking at their meals and enjoying the competition.

“Oh also,” Bdubs says swiftly transitioning from one story to the another, “While I was getting some snacks during bingo, you’ll never guess what I heard.”

“What did they say?” inquires Joe. 

“Eh?” Doc hums sleepily.

“Oh?” Xisuma quips.

“That a squirrel falling from space would die, not from the fall but from starvation because they can survive terminal velocity?” Zedaph says quickly. All eyes fall on the satyr in a general confused look on their faces. “What? It’s true,” he says before turning back to his lunch. Tango gently cuffs his head with a wing.

Bdubs quickly shakes his head, as if to shake away Zedaphs absurd claim. “Anyways, did you know that apparently the meteor that’s been making our lives, oh so wonderful to live is just a scam and we are somehow faking our transformations for money,” he says with an overly happy tone that was only truly seen when something had gotten under Bdubs skin. 

The Hermits let out a few chuckles and huffed laughter. 

“Oh, my,” Xisuma says between chuffs, “That’s mighty preposterous.”

“Oh, how little do they know…” Beef rolls his eyes, as he gently swats Bdubs with his tail. The phantom leans into Beef and sighs.

The laughter dies down eventually, people still munching away at their meals and a few pushing the extras untouched food to the competitors and to the others. Talking amongst themselves and waving at the other competitors passing by, the lunch break closes as the prospect champions are rushed into the voting area again and the hermits take their place at the viewing area once again, waiting for the next game to begin. 

…….

As SkizzleMan walks past one of the viewing areas he overhears something that catches his attention.

“Oh yeah, did you hear the other hermits are here, not just the constants.”

“Wow, I’m surprised they would show up to watch people cheat.”

“Would you stop with saying it’s cheating, they clearly can’t control what’s happened.”

“Oh please, look at them. How can they not be cheating.”

Deciding not to get involved with that mess, Skizz pulls his communicator out and shoots Impulse a message.

SkizzleMan: Hey DippleDop

ImpulseSV: Oh hey skizz, I didn’t think you were here

SkizzleMan: well I am

SkizzleMan: I haven’t seen you in ages, do you want to meet up and talk!

ImpulseSV: sure,

ImpulseSV: if you want you can come up to the hermit box.

SkizzleMan: sure, where are you?

Impulse sends directions to the Hermits box seat and a few minutes later Skizz knocks on the door. Stepping outside for a moment Impulse grins at his friend.

With a start Skizz realizes something, he hasn’t seen Impulse in person since he was affected. It must have shown on his face, because Impulse takes a few steps back, “Impulse, what happened?”

Impulse looks down and fiddles with the hem of his shirt, “It was, uh, I’ve told you about the meteor.”

“Yeah, but… what happened to you?” Skizz asks poking at one of the bedrock splotches.

“Oh, Uh, I’m part bedrock, I guess.”

Skizz’s face flashes through several emotions and settles at a mix of disgust and rage.

“Sorry?” Impulse mutters as he freezes up a bit.

Stepping forwards Skizz wraps Impulse in a hug, “I’m going to fight that rock for you DippleDop.”

“Please don’t,” Impulse mutters as he hugs back.

“Give me a good reason.”

“You could get affected,” Impulse says as he pushes Skizz back a little.

“Fair… how’s Tango?”

“He’s here, would you like to come in?” Impulse invites as he holds the door open. Skizz nods and lets Impulse bring him in. As Impulse drags Skizz over to Tango he has to take a moment to process what he’s seeing.

Sure he doesn’t really know the hermits that well but they are still his friends and seeing what happened to them hurts weirdly. It’s unfair that this is happening to them and that the one time they get to go out and have fun, they get mocked and accused of faking.

Tango spots Skizz and his wings poof out in excitement, “Skizz, hey man,” he greats, his tail flicking wildly. 

Skizz waves to Tango, “So you're a bird?”

Grinning Tango spreads his wings and shows his feathers off, “I’m a Phoenix.”

“Nice,” Skizz grins, “So uh, how have you been?”

“Ehh, it’s fine, life’s crazy but I wouldn’t leave the hermits for anything. They’re family, you know. I wouldn’t let you go off and do something dumb so I can’t let the hermits get hurt by themselves.”

Frowning Skizz looks around the room, most of the hermits are talking quietly as they wait for the next game to start. Tails and ears flick around, “You have to promise me. Both of you. If anything happens please tell me, like you said we’re family. It hurts not being able to help.”

………….

As the contestants gather around the dome they chatter and spread out as they wait. Tommy somehow managing to convince Philza to race Grian across the waiting area.

It’s a close race but Grian wins. His wings were grown and his body changed to be good at flying. Philza’s much taller than Grian, but he’s not really built for flying, rather him adapting to his wings over time rather than his body being built for them. 

A buzzer sounds and once again the teams are dropped into the decision dome. As the chickens are thrown they settle and “The game is Hole in the Wall” lights up as the game of choice. 

The contestants grin and cheer as they are teleported into the jump pad area. The rules are clearly stated along with an extra rule for players with extra body parts; gives them either an extra life or permission to flutter wings, depending on needs.

Overall it makes everything just a bit fairer. It levels the playing field.

And of course, some people scoff at the need for extra rules. 

The game pauses before it can begin so the admins can explain something to the crowd, “If you don’t like something just avoid it,” Wilbur mutters under his breath.

Cub grins at this and flicks his ears around. A few minutes later the ground lights up and the game begins.

The first round started with the timer ringing loudly through the area. Contestants line the outer perimeter of the center ring facing any direction that the wall could come from. Tensions are high, with eyes glancing quickly to each and every wall. A loud mechanical sound rings out as the first wall leaves the Eastern wall, people quickly shuffling into place to slip between the gaps in the wall. It chugged at a steady pace, moving in measured intervals like a clock ticking, slowly as the round began. 

More agile members of the contest, like Fruit, Dream, and Illumina, manage to vault over the higher cut-outs while the other slips through the lower sections. 

The tempo of the game begins to pick up as the round continues, first coming slowly and easily predictable before they begin to increase in speed and difficulty. Multiple walls emerge from different directions, moving toward the center platform before all but one drop from view. People begin to get knocked off after the third wall. Grain’s wings get caught on a wall after he wasn’t able to pull them close enough to fit through a small opening and is pushed into the pit of slime in the bottom of the area. The screaming of the crowd fills the air. 

More and more are pushed off as the speed increases till only a few are felt on the platform including Hbomb, Pizza Hut, Fruits, and False, the others succumbing to the slime pit below. From the hermit viewing box, whoops and cheers ring out for False as the only hermit on the ring. Slowly those who fell victim to gravity wade their way out of the pit and to the small platforms at the bottom, helping each other out of the slimy ooze. Techno reaches out a hand to Grian, which he grateful takes and is heaved out of the pit easily by the battle master. 

“Thank you,” he chirps, a bit embarrassed that he was stuck. 

“No problem,” Techno acknowledges with a small nod. 

After the remaining contestants are fished out of the pit and brought back up to the ring, a quick break is allowed for those to catch their breath before round two starts. 

A horn rings through the area as the crowd cheering picks up again. Once again the walls come slowly with everyone passing through with relative ease before they start to come quicker and quicker, knocking off more people with each passing wall. Some fall quicker than before while others manage to last a few seconds longer. By the final horn for round sounds, contestants out of breath and lean over on their knees to catch a much-needed breath on the arena, while those below recover once again from falling. 

The crowd roars as the final round starts, the Teal Tigers and Blue Bears battling for first place. The beginnings of exhaustion pull on the minds of some people but adrenaline burns through them to keep everyone alert. The walls seem to come faster sooner, keeping the contestants on their toes at all times. Some power through the final round, bounding over the walls and slipping through the holes in the wall. More seem to last longer but eventually, people fall, tripping on themselves or others. 

By the end of the game, the Teal Tigers snagged first place. The crowd screams out for the winners. The whispers of cheat becoming abated as the extra limbs seem to hamper those who possessed them. Fur and feathers get stuck to slime, needing to get brushed out.

As the Contestants walkout from the game area, they all are covered head to toe in sticky green slime. Ren laughs as he helps Grian wipe some of the slime off his wings.

“Tango is not going to like this.”

“No, he’s not,” Cub grins shaking off slime that clings to his body. The hermits all know how much it bugs Tango when his or Grian’s wings get overly dirty. 

False grins, “Welp, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Fluttering his wings softly, Grian perches next to them on top of a fence, “I’ll shower first, then most of the slime will be gone.”

“Smart,” False hums softly, ringing some slime out of her hair. 

…….

From up in the audience there’s a soft murmur, they don’t know what to think. The hermits are all sorts of weird creatures. Heck, you can’t even tell what’s up the blond woman, who knows what she can do.

There have been several mutters about how it’s so weird seeing the contestants from the Dream SMP work together. It’s different from the show that they are used to seeing. Of course if what was happening on the SMP was real the Watchers would’ve shut it down by now.

The boys would work together like a well-oiled machine amongst their teams. None of the hostility is usually seen on the show the server would produce. Quips and quick lighthearted insults are thrown between the competitors like that of friends rather than the enemies they portray themselves to be. The servers contestants showcasing their abilities as expert parkorers, battle masters, and skilled builders put on more direct display then the show would allow. 

…..

“Well, at least your wings are clean now,” Tango sighs, Grian’s wings had gotten all gummed up with slime and all the hermits are sitting around picking slime out of fur.

“Thanks,” Grian grins, flaring his wings out and shaking them softly, a few feathers float out, dislodged from the slime.

Exhausted groans and pained whimpers escape the competing hermits as sore muscles ache for relief and something to soothe them. 

“Are the rumors still circulating?” Cub asks, leaning into Scar’s picking and petting through messy fur.

Skizz looks up from where he was talking to Zedaph, “Yeah, a lot less than before but not as bad as the first round. I think after you guys got smacked off it changed a little. People couldn’t justify you guys cheating.”

  
  



	2. TGTTOSATWAF and Ace Race

As the sun rises on the second day of the championships, people watching are let back onto the server after returning to their own servers for the night. 

The contestants have a different setup, they have small rooms in one of the side buildings. An open atrium area connects all the rooms together.

The bleary-eyed audience members settle into their seats as the courtyard is filled with contestants. An excited buzz fills the air. Everyone is eager to see what the day's activities shall bring.

Philza and Techno are talking quietly with Tommy, explaining some things and telling him to talk to the others, get a feel for how to act around different people. He’s not in trouble or anything he just had a few questions.

Ren is chatting with Hbomb as his tail wags excitedly, jumping around and grinning. Snorting slightly Hbomb laughs, rolling his eyes. Ren always gets overly hyper close to the full moon.

The bell rings signaling the start of the first game of the day and the contestants’ file into the voting dome. As usual everyone tries to break the elevators. They successfully get into the underground and have a fun few minutes running around in the basement.

A soft tingling sensation fills the contestants as they are teleported into their balconies.

Eggs are popped into everyone’s inventories and thrown into the air. Soft clucking fills the air and soon a choice becomes clear.

“And the game is To Get To The Other Side And Whack A Fan!” The announcer yells excitedly. 

The crowd goes wild and the contestants are pretty excited as well. TGTTOSAWAF is a fun game and is overall pretty fair. Different challenges come with different skill sets and abilities. 

Most of the teams are ecstatic and are grinning wildly. Philza fluffs his wings up in anticipation as Fundy crouches on the ground and smiles widely. Others give their teammates high-fives and prepare for the first drop. 

Some of the fans are considerably less excited than the contestants, knowing that some of their seat neighbors would complain about the hermits the whole time. It’s a very small percentage of the crowd but it is very obnoxious for everyone else watching.

_______

There are six rounds of this game. The first is a Tera Swop Map where the contestants must use elytra or their wings to glide down to a platform. Some people smack into walls and have to restart. Grian as expected comes in first place. Philza comes second.

The second game involves throwing yourself at a wall and launching yourself with a trident through holes in the walls.

After that it’s the iceboats, occasionally the contestants help each other out. Either by letting them sit in the boats or pulling them off from the edge. 

The next game is the bridge game where contestants have to speed bridge and try not to get knocked off of their bridge. 

The fifth game is similar to the fourth in that players must build up and jump. This time they jump off and use their elytra and glide to the next platform.

The final game is one that comes down more to luck than anything. The contestants run at a wall and at random they might pick the right door and be able to go through. 

______

By the end of the game, the contestants are exhausted. Everyone had a ton of fun, and it’s no surprise that the Green Gazelles - False, Cub, Scott Major, and Philza - won. Those four together are just about unstoppable. Of course, the Purple Parrots are nothing to sneeze at either and are able to do incredible things, having come in second place.

Naturally, some people are less excited about this… apparently having cat ears is unbelievable and majorly cheating. The contestants all have fun laughing about this and make sure that the hermits are ok.

……….

Doc grins softly, Bdubs snoring softly nearby. As expected he had passed out and the rest of the NHO is sitting calmly and talking to each other. Beef is being used as a pillow, Etho curling up on his back as a fox, as Bdubs leans against him. Chattering back and forth they grin as Bdubs starts to wake up. 

“Bdubs tell him you don’t need Redstone to make a fully functional base,” Beef grins as he stretches his back out.

Etho gickers loudly at being disturbed and pops back into his humanoid form, “I’m with Doc you need to automate things.”

Yawning Bdubs looks up and blinks, “What?”

“Bases with or without Redstone?” Doc hisses softly.

“Without,” Bdubs answers, “Even someone as talented as I am can see it’s unnecessary to make a base.”

Their laughter echoes across and draws the attention of Xb. He’s sitting in the corner clutching his water cup. He’d previously been talking with Xisuma who had been called away to deal with someone who was making some trouble with a friend.

Nodding to the others Beef stands up and walks over, sliding his back legs down he lays down, “You ok?”

“I’m just all dried out,” Xb nods, “It’s not the worst but it’s pretty uncomfortable.”

“I was going to go home before the next game if you want to come.”

“Can we still watch the games?” Xb asks grinning.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t miss it.”

As they leave the door swings open, Xisuma holding Exy‘s leg as Hels laughs at his misfortune.

Back on the hermitcraft server, Beef and Xb settle into the community area under the town hall. Xb shifts into his mer form and props himself up on the side of the pool, as Beef rubs up against a brush on the wall and curls up with his head on some pillows, burying the rest of his body in blankets.

The others understand why they went home, neither one does too well in stressful situations. Zedaph probably would have gone with them but he’s having a ‘very important’ staring contest with Skizz. 

The rest of the hermits are scattered around the room. Mumbo is playing cards with Scar and Biffa. TFC, Wels, and Keralis are intently watching as Cleo and Joe argue back and forth about whether to flavor his gummies or to leave them plain. Cleo says flavor them and Joe says leaving them plain is better.

Exy is pacing back and forth on the ceiling. Jevin has split into four and is rushing around annoying Hypno. Max huddles on the table away from all the chaos. 

One of the mini Jevins catches Hypno running smack into his legs, “You smell.”

Scooping the small slime up at eye level Hypno asks, “Jev, can you even smell?”

“Uh, nope,” He grins, “not since I got cursed.”

Hypno laughs for a moment, “You’re just saying it in response.” 

As one of the other mini Jevins jumps onto his back, Hypno pulls him off gently setting him down, “You smell.”

The other two Jevins smack into each other with a soft squelch, refusing into one, “Well, that’s one way to get back together.”

All snacks have been neatly stacked on the table; they had been a mess but someone made the mistake of asking if someone could fix this and Mumbo went into a bit of a programmed mode and cleaned everything.

There'd been a few dares throughout the day, one was people trying to pick Impulse up. That is not as easy as it sounds; he's half unbreakable rock and is pretty hard to catch. 

Currently, Skizz is leaning back against the couch watching intently as Impulse and Zedaph show him how to preen his feathers.

“You just get all the dirt out?”

“Yeah and this helps spread oils around,” Tango explains his tail flicking gently.

“You can't just take a shower?”

“I mean it helps, birdbaths are a thing, but this makes sure nothing bad gets in my wings.”

“Cool, cool, uh how often do you do this?”

“As a group like this once a week or so,” Tango explains, he allows Skizz to touch his wings, “Otherwise I preen just whenever I can.”

“Like brushing hair?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

…...

A slight murmur runs through the crowd. Some are saying the server is Haunted. Small objects seem to float in the air. Food trays are flipped. Oddly distorted laughter echoes across the stands. 

Eventually, the crowd notices a tall red-eyed armored man watching whenever something happens. At times it seems that something grabs him. Dull footsteps sound as one of the Noxcrew Admins walks over with a lizard like-wingless dragon hybrid following close behind. 

The air above the man glimmers softly as something pops into existence. 

“Sorry suma.”

“X, please don't keep doing this.”

Exy floats down to meet eyes with his brother, “Fine.”

The admin nods, “I take it you’ve got this from here.”

“Thank you for letting me know, and as for you,” Xisuma turns to Hels who backs up slightly, “Try not to cause too much trouble.”

“Uh, I’ll do my best.”

Xisuma seems to accept this answer, “Ok, back to the others now.”

Grabbing hold of Exy’s ankle Xisuma drags his brother back to the hermits. Jogging slightly to keep up Hels laughs at his friend’s misfortune. 

“Let me go,” Exy protests trying to carefully wiggle out of his brother’s grasp.

“You are lucky you didn’t get kicked out,” Xisuma says pushing the door open.

“Well, I was only doing it to the people who were being mean to them”

This shuts Xisuma up, “Oh, well I think we can let this slide.”

“Told you,” Hels murmurs.

“Here,” Xisuma pulls a small object from his pocket, “You can have this back as long as you don't point it at someone who doesn’t want it.”

….

After a lunch break, the contestants file back into the voting dome. 

The chickens are thrown into the dome in a clucking wave.

“Release the chickens!” Quackity yells, laughter filling his voice.

The other contestants laugh as the blue bears are promptly dunked into the water.

The game chosen is, “Ace Race!” The announcer yells as they explain the rules and how this game will work. Potions are handed out to any contestants who don’t want fur or feathers to get soaking wet. 

Everyone likes this game and the contestants have been warned beforehand of different rules for the different advantages some of the contestants might have. Ren can’t use some of the short cuts as he can run just a bit faster than others. Grian has a slow falling potion, Philza can't fly when it’s not a flying area. The game is as fair as it can get.

In Ace Race, having fur doesn’t really give any sort of advantage. Fundy and Ren are considerably faster than others due to being part fox and wolf respectively. Ren loops the long way around the course, as others like DanTDM jump up the rocks. Cub has no such penalties as he’s not any faster because he’s a lion. For the water section of the race, they thankfully have been given potions to prevent the water from getting on their fur. If they didn't have potions they would be slowed down considerably. From having to run with waterlogged fur to shaking the water off, it wouldn’t be quite fair.

The contestants with wings and feathers are in a similar position. They’ve been given potions to keep the water off their feathers. Philza and Grian have been given a special potion to give them slow falling in the flying bits. Quackity is allowed to compete as normal since his feathers are just spattered across his back and in his hair. Unlike Grian and Philza, he was born with his feathers, his great grandfather was one of the humans turned into hybrids. 

Some of the others are given potions for water, and the rest are free to run as-is. The start buzzer echoes and The contestants are off. 

Unsurprisingly Dream comes in first place with Grian hot on his heels, third place goes to DanTDM. The other contestants complete the race sooner or later and the team scores can be calculated.

The Pink Pandas come in third, with Yellow Yaks in Second, and to no one’s surprise, the Purple Parrots are first. Seriously who let Dream and Technoblade be on the same team, seems like a bit of an oversight.

The fans watching don’t seem too critical of the Hermits this round, it’s clear Grian was hit with a slow falling potion to make the fact he would be flying a little bit fairer. Which makes it all the more impressive that he got second place. 

….

Wilbur walks around the atrium, footsteps barely heard over the constant talking. People were calling their friends, but he had done that when he’d first arrived. Fragments of conversations floating through the air. Bedrock is mentioned, catching Wilbur’s interest and slowing his steps.

“-so how’s the bedrock stuff treatin’ you man?” The voice is unfamiliar at first, but after a quick glance, he recognizes the person. Wilbur believes the canid man is called Ren, one of the Hermits who’ve been affected by that meteor thing as well as a fellow MCC competitor.

I wonder why those two are talking about bedrock...

Wilbur walks closer and hears the reply of an unseen face.

“I’m still not used to it. The spots of it are really uncomfortable and all the ‘instincts’ are super annoying. Looking in the mirror is weird because of my eyes.” he pauses for a few moments, then mutters, “And nobody knows anything about this all.”

At this point, he’s completely stationary, and the other two have yet to notice him. Which is peculiar, seeing as he’s stood right near them.

Might as well join in, try to share some knowledge. 

With that thought, he turns to face them and step forward, all in a singular motion.

“Hi, Ren and..” Wil pauses.

“Impulse.”  
  


“Impulse. I’m Wilbur Soot, a member of Sleepy Bois Inc.” He runs a hand through his hair, “I happened to hear you mentioning bedrock and thought I might be able to help.”

Stars grow brighter within black eyes, swiftly giving Wilbur their full attention. “Really? Thank y-” 

Impulse is cut off by the speakers coming to life, “Contestants I hate to ruin your fun but the atrium is closing now. Please make your way to your rooms, as swiftly as possible.”

This announcement happens every night in an attempt to get the competitors to sleep at a decent time, each community room closed one by one; the atrium being the last.

Wilbur frowns, annoyed with the sudden intrusion, “I guess we’ll have to pick this up at a later time.” he pauses, considering his options, “I’m available at breakfast, maybe we could meet up in the garden area; most people don’t go there so I think we’ll have space.”

“Sure. Yeah, that sounds good man.” Impulse hastily replies; other Hermits yelling his name in order to get him to follow.

Ren grabs Impulse and starts gently pulling him towards the western exit. Wilbur waves then begins his rushed walk to the eastern door.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think <3


	3. Rocket Spleef and Sands of time

As he arrives at the meeting spot, Wilbur notes the faint trail of bedrock flakes. It reminds him of The Perambulator and his own experiences with bedrock. His breath quickens and it takes him a minute to slow it back down. Impulse sits at the end of the particle trail. He’s scratching at the dark patches covering his skin, eyebrows furrowed and teeth gritted.

“Hello, how are you doing?” Wilbur calls out before he sits down beside the Hermit.

Impulse jumps, startled, turning around quickly. The sudden movement along with surprise causes his fingernails to dig into his arm too deeply and void-like blood slowly oozes out from the cuts. Impulse inhales sharply, a pained look painting his face. 

“Holy shi-oot man, I’m so sorry. Let me help.” Wilbur searches through his inventory looking for the medical kit, which had become a necessity due to accidents during both games and while on set.

“I’m going to need to grab your arm, is that alright?” With the kit on his lap, Wilbur is ready to begin cleaning and bandaging the wound.

Impulse nods, “Yeah, go ahead.”

Wilbur gently pulls Impulse’s arm towards him and starts wiping it with some antibacterial wipes. Messy indentations lie on the older’s forearm, slightly dragging towards his body. Wil puts a bit of disinfectant on it but mostly as a precaution, due to the void properties of Impulse’s blood already working as a preventative measure. The tedious process of bandaging commences and to avoid the awkward silence, Wilbur begins to speak.

“I reckon now’s as decent a time as any.. So bedrock, yeah?” Wilbur looks up momentarily, and Impulse nods, “Simply put it’s just void rock, there to separate dimensions or somethin’. It’s heavy, almost indestructible, drenched in abyss; that make sense so far?” 

“..Yep. How do you know all this man?”

“How do I- I know all of this due to one of my..” He pauses, contemplating although only for a short time, “Ventures, which I tend to document. Messed with it a bit too much and then suddenly, it follows me.” The last bit was said in a theatrical tone, emphasis put on the “suddenly”.

Wil runs a hand through his hair, recalling the details, “Weathered pillars two blocks high, consuming all it comes in contact with.”

“I got the splotches too, mostly on my legs though; reckoned that’s part of the trail bit. The patches made it a bit painful to move but after a while the excess bits would flake off, long as I scratched at it lightly.” He looks pointedly at the now bandaged arm.

“Any more force and it began to hurt a lot, sped up growth even. They never spread too far, the bedrock spots, just stopped growing after a bit. I never got the void eyes, just the cracking skin.”

“The Perambulator is what I called it, my trail. Even found a plant sittin’ on top of it once, but it also suffocated some bats..” A long sigh,

“After a few days I went to the Nether, and it dissipated. Had to return to the Overworld to get wood though, and the bedrock broke my portal. I kind of just sat and waited after that, for the patches to slough off. They did; after a few more days, and I left immediately after.”

Wil lightly pats Impulse’s arm, “Right then, I think your arm’s good now. Best head to the dome now... I think I’ve told you all that’ll be helpful.”

Impulse is stunned, all he can do is watch as Wilbur walks away; medkit put away, hand messing his hair, “Well, that sounds like what the void told me…”

……..

As the contestants file into the dome a whisper ripples through the crowd. 

It’s halfway through the tournament and every one can see just how far ahead two of the teams are.

Now this doesn’t mean someone else won't win, that’s a very real possibility. However that could change.

The chickens are released, “And the game is Rocket Spleef!”

Naturally wings are a huge advantage in this game. The rules to even things out do fix the problem. Unless standing or taking off wings must remain in gliding position, and they don't have rockets.

As the contestants stand in the drop room Tommy drags Philza over to Grian to compare wingspan. Philza’s wings are a good deal longer, it makes sense he's a lot bigger so his wings are bigger.

“Oh and if you guys see Grian don't put your arms out he might land on you.”

“That was one time Ren,” Grian calls back grinning, at Philza’s confused glance he explains, “Back when this first happened I went a little bird brain at times and would try to land on peoples arms. I knocked Ren off his base.”

Tommy snorts, “I bet that looked stupid.”

Gently slapping him with a wing Philza chastises him.

“Oh it did,” Grian laughs, “Thankfully we didn’t land in lava.”

A buzzer sounds signaling the drop, everyone gets ready, and falls. Elytra and wings snap open. The contestants drift down and start trying to knock each other off while trying to stay on. A few of the better flyers are still in the air circling like hawks.

Grian lands on a platform, shakes his wings out and launches back into the air. A few minutes later the countdown runs down and Philza, Cub, and Dream are the only ones left in the air.

The second round starts and the contestants fall once more.

This round has more people left when the timer runs out. This time with Philza, Grian, Tommy and Quackity.

Following the pattern round three, drops them but this time only two players remain, Technoblade and Philza.

_______

“Dude it was so crazy,” Ranboo grins, his mouth stretching just a bit too wide, “I didn’t think I would get put in the wack a fan pit.”

“Yeah you're so lucky you got to be in the pit,” One of the others calls back, as Dream laughs. The contestants are taking their lunch break. 

“Grian got you right?” Dream asks grinning.

“Yep, he just zoomed right at me and pop, I’m back in the drop bay,” Ranboo laughs, “It was slightly terrifying. He nearly hit me head on.”

“Yeah the bird boy launching himself at people is slightly terrifying,” A voice echoes from above.

“Who the hell are you?” Tommy shrieks.

“I’m Evil Xisuma,” He grins as he drops down from his tree.

“Are you actually evil?” Tubbo asks softly.

“Eh, not anymore.” 

Purpled stands up and walks over, “You know you look a lot like the guy who made Bedwars.”

“That would be my brother, he’s probably going to come looking for me in, Uh, a few minutes.”

Waking over Philza narrows his eyes, “When you introduced yourself you called yourself Evil Xisuma? Why?”

“Oh that long story, I’m the quote un-quote  _ evil  _ twin, then a whole thing happened where I got possessed by the wither. And the nickname stuck. Call me Ex”

Philza nods, “So what brings you over here?”

“I just felt like it?” He shrugs.

A bit wary of the floating man Fundy slinks over and blinks at the helmeted man, “Iskall mentioned you.”

“Oh, so you’re the Fox who trolled him… I thought he was talking about Etho.”

Worming his way in front of Tommy, Tubbo nervously speaks up, “So, uh- hi, if you don’t mind me asking, how did this stuff happen?”

“Uh, that is a very good question, basically some really old gods were fought by this guy Avar and he got turned to stone and eventually landed on the Hermitcraft server. Since he uses such old magic the watchers aren’t able to stop him.”

“Oh my, that- that’s just wild,” Tubbo murmurs, “You said you know Etho.”

“Yeah, Uh, I can take some of you to meet the hermits,” Exy offers softly. 

“Are you sure that’s ok?” Dream asks, “We don’t want to be a bother.”

“Nah, they haven’t been able to record as much of what they do since the meteor but everyone loves it when people come up to talk to them.”

“As long as it's not about them cheating?” Sapnap grins softly.

“Exactly.”

“Ex,” A soft voice growls.

“Hey Xisuma,” Exy grins.

“He’s not bothering us,” Fundy grins, “We’re just talking.”

Xisuma’s tail flicks, “Oh, well, sorry to interrupt.”

As he turns to leave a voice asks, “You’re Xisuma?”

“That I am,” The admin grins, his spines settling tight against his back.

“You made bed wars?” A purpled hooded teen grins.

Smiling under his mask Xisuma nods, “That I did, what’s your name?”

“Oh, I'm Purpled,” He waves, grinning, “It’s nice to meet you sir.”

“There’s no need for that, it’s nice to meet you as well,” Xisuma grins. He continues chatting for a moment, “Do you want to come meet the others?”

“Sure.”

A few of the younger Dream SMP members walk back with Xisuma and his brother. They have watched Hermitcraft for years and because of the meteor there aren’t as many videos. They want to see how things have changed. 

A small white fox stretches out in a patch of sunlight, as his tail flicks it becomes evident that he has two tails not just one.

“Hey Etho,” Xisuma calls, “Some people want to meet you.”

The Fox pads over and smoothly transforms into a more human form, “Hey.”

“Holy Crap, you’re Etho,” Tubbo grins, “That’s so cool.”

Etho’s tails slowly curl around his legs, “Hey, so you watch my videos.”

“Yeah, it’s so cool,” Tubbo gushes.

Under his mask Etho blushes softly, “Thanks, you’re Tubbo right?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool I’ve seen your videos as well,” Etho grins.

Tubbo turns away and just grins, “Hey, cool.”

“Wait so, you just take shit from each other’s bases?” Tommy cusses as he looks at team ZIT confused.

“Language please,” Tango laughs, “But yeah, we share farms.”

Giggles escaped Tubbo, “Looks like they also have a Bad then.” he mutters. 

“We have chests for our stuff but if we have a lot of stuff they can take it.”

“Just remember to check fireworks,” Zedaph murmurs, his tail flicking, “You might burn your butt.”

“What?” Tommy deadpans.

“He tried to fly with exploding rockets.”

Tommy snorts, “I’m sorry what?”

“I made a mistake and that is all.”

Impulse grins, “So what brings you over here?”

“I followed Tubbo,” Tommy glares, “It’s none of your business.”

“That’s true but I meant talking to us.”

“Oh, well, I felt like it.”

…..

After lunch the contestants file into the dome as usual, the chickens are thrown and the game is chosen.

The Green Gazelles, Philza, False, Cubfan and Scott run into an unforeseen issue… Cub, the game designed to look like ancient architecture feels so right and safe he doesn’t want to leave.

Tasked with running into the maze to explore and collecting gold Cub runs into the depths of the maze. Tail flicking as he dashes into the dark. A flurry of mobs shuffling after, he spins around and battles them.

“Your fetid flesh stinks these winding halls. Begone, return to the earth,” He snarls at a zombie.

“Well, this certainly is interesting,” A soft voice chitters.

“Vex, greetings,” Cub nods as he continues walking, listening to the small fae like creatures. 

“It seems your form is slipping.”

“My shape is the same as it was before I began my roam.”

“That may be true, but you are a sphinx,” The vex giggles, “You have claimed this as yours.” 

As the vex fades Cub blinks, startled by the news, “A maze to own.. a home?”

Continuing to explore he grins, pockets full of gold. The rhythmic clinking of the coins echoes through the passages; his tail sways in time, feet keeping the beat.

He doesn’t even realize his Communicator has been buzzing until False bolts around a corner, “Cub, come on I need your sand.”

“Apologies,” Cub murmurs, “Had you been requesting my presence?”

“We all were.”

“It would appear that this place has messed with my head.”

False nods, “How ‘bout you come back and guard the sand.”

“Certainly,” Cub agrees as he follows behind, “This place feels right, similar to the way my pyramid does.”

Each step farther from the labyrinth brings back his mental restraint, False dusting his hair of sand.

………

Whispers rip through the audience before the cameras quickly switch to a different team’s perspective and away from Cub.

“Did- did you see the way the vex just ignored him?” Someone in the crowd mutters.

“Yeah, that was a bit weird… it looked like he was talking to it before it faded.”

“That’s pretty sketchy, i’m not gonna lie…”

……...

As the day’s games wind to an end Ren gives a toothy, deep yawn. Tonight’s the full moon, he can feel it, and he’s been growing increasingly uncomfortable. Feeling like he’s in the wrong skin, like it's pulled tight over his muscles in some spots and loose in others. There’s electricity running through his body but it can’t seem to escape. 

“Hey Ren,” Doc grins as he walks over, “I thought you might want this.” He reaches out his hand to reveal a rubber ball. 

Grabbing the ball Ren grins, “Thanks man.” He flexes the ball in his hand, enjoying having an out for his nerves, even if it’s just a small one. He knows that he’s going to shift and that he’ll probably go crazy playing with it once he’s a wolf.

The down time between the games and dinner is pretty stressful for Ren. He can feel the tug on his body, nearly to his soul at this point. Something calls to him, a gentle pull towards his wolf state. The sun starts to dip below the horizon and it’s only a matter of time.

Slowly, he draws deeper and deeper breaths to keep the tug at bay till he can find a more sacidied spot to transform.

_ In 1...2...3… _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Out 1...2...3… _

Ren breaks away from the hermits, darting to one of the rooms reserved for the group. Slipping into an unoccupied room, Ren quickly removes the Championship uniform before it can rip under the stress of the transformation. 

He continues to breathe as deep as his lungs allow, but starts to give into the tug. He feels the energy surge through his body as bones and muscles shift and change. Fur starts to grow quickly, covering his body before he completely gives into the wolf’s form. Nails harder into claws while teeth sharpen to more canine features. 

The transformation finished with a familiar soreness that’s strangely comforting to him. Nervous energy is soon replaced with excitement and giddy. Ren bursts form the room with renewed vigor. He dashes through the hallways and out of the contests’ quarters building in an excited search for his friends. 

He takes off through the courtyard. 

“The others must have already gone to the food hall for dinner,” Ren thinks to himself. “Now what was the way to it?”

“Who let a dumb dog into the MCC quater yard?” someone snides. From the edge of the viewing area.

Ren skids to a stop, as his ears flick to attention drawn by the insult. 

“Jeez, I thought this place had class,” another guest quips. Ren throws his head towards the sounds. He lands on a group of 3 people. 

“Here, doggy, come here,” one of the three encouraged, the one that had yet to insult him he noticed. 

Cautiously he approached the group, mainly the one kneely down to his level. 

“Hey boy,” they put out a hand to encourage him closer. 

He creeps closer, the person drawing back as they realize Ren’s full size. He lowers himself to the ground, trying to make himself self imposing. 

“Oh, it’s fine boy,” they carefully lay a hand onto Ren’s fur, “You’re just a bigger boy then I thought.” 

“Oh quit it, it's just a dump dog,” one of the others dissuades. 

Ren rolls his eyes and sits down to let them properly pet his fur for a moment before dashing off again.    
  


“You scared him off you jerk,” Ren hears the one that was petting him whine as he runs off. 

“Come on I know it's somewhere this way, I know it…” he thinks. Ren wanders around the courtyard more and more. He ends up rounding the same garden bed about four times until...    
  


“Ren!” Cub shouts “Ren where are you?”

Ren turns towards the shout, glee coursing through his body. 

“Ren, come one! Dinner started and I know you wouldn’t want to miss out! I know how much you love food, especially now!” 

Ren rushes towards Cub, nearly taking him off his feet. “Hey dude, there you are.” 

Ren’s tail wags uncontrollably, happily panting in Cub’s arms. 

“Come on’ let's go get some food man.” 

Cub leads the two into the grand hall filled to bursting with people, smells and sounds. Plates and trays clink together as chatter creates a dull roar of hall. The hermits take up a corner of the seating area, everyone having already been served save a few of them. Cub quickly slips into a chair while Grain and False gently lift the table cloth.    
  


“Here,” False laughs, “We figured you might want a little more private space to eat, hopefully to save you some dignity.”

Ren slipped under the table, enjoying the darkness and how the cloth dampened the sound for his more sensitive ears and nose. 

Iskall dipped their head under the table, “Here dude, hot off the grill for you.” They say placing a plate filled with food including some spaghetti and bread with chopped chicken and steak along with some diced vegetables. Ren can feel himself salivating at the sight of the food, always enjoying what the crew of Championship chefs cook up. “Tonight, we dine like royalty.” 

Iskall slips back up to the table as Ren starts to devour the meal, enjoying the occasion pat from a hermit. With a content full stomach, Ren sinks into a comfortable feeling being surrounded by friends. 

While he lays under the table, a familiar energy starts to fill his body with a need to move. Cautiously he peeks his head under the table cloth, glancing around the hall. The others are distracted by conversation so he creeps his way out from under the table. Slowly he walks around the tables trying not to bring too much attention to himself, well as little attention as a large brown wolf can get. Energy fights to find a way to get out, to run and to play but Ren restrains himself from doing so, at least till he can get out of the hall. 

He’s just about a few feet away from the table when he hears a gasp.

“Oh my, guys look at that dog over there! He’s so big!” an excited voice chirps. Ren glances towards the thrilled voice to lock eyes with Hbomb as he tugs on the shirt of one of his servermates to get their attention. 

“Hey buddy,” Hbomb says happily, “I have a treat for you.” He lowers his hand to reveal a piece of steak that had been cut from his meal. Ren, being one to never say no at free food, pads his way over the young adult and happy eats the chunk of meat. Now with two free hands, Hbomb laces his fingers through Ren’s fur, scratching just behind the ear. Ren practically melts into the touch, far too blissed out on a full stomach and a good scratch to notice others carefully approaching, till he feels more hands pat him.

“He’s so soft,” a young voice comments; Tubbo possibly, Ren thinks. 

“Yeah, and he’s so friendly too,” someone else says, maybe Dan.

“Who's does he belong to though? I can’t think of anyone who had an animal at any of the last contests,” another voice mutters. 

“Guys, I think that’s Ren,” Techno bluntly states much to the confusion of the small crowd gathering around the large wolf. 

Tubbo pauses his petting of Ren for a second, “Oh that actually makes sense. Are you Ren?” Tubbo asks the wolf, which in return gets a dope nod. 

“Oh, do you want us to stop then Ren?” Hbomb asked, “Are you ok with us petting you?”

“Most likely yeah,” Grain interjects, “Ren is already a love bug, but he especially becomes one during his transformations.” Ren tail thumps in an approving wag against the ground. 

“Actually this would be the time of night when Ren needs to go take care of the zoomies,” Cub comments gently patting Ren’s head as his tail twitches.

Once again a nod for the wolf and a happy bark. 

“Usually Joe or Etho would go run around the server for a bit, but seeing as how this is part of the competitors only part of the area, I’m sure that he would like for someone else to help burn them off,” False knowlying suggests. 

Sparks light up in Hbomb’s and Tubbo’s eyes as they dash off to their friends. 

“Guys come outside with us! We’re going to go run around with Ren!”   
  


“Tommy! Dream! Come on! Come on! Come on! This will be so much fun!”

A small crowd along with the large wolf enter into the dimly lit quart yard before the entrance into the voting area, all giddy with excitement. Soon enough games break out as the contests playfully chase after one another and run form Ren. Races break out between the different speedrunners, seeing who might outrun the wolf. Games of fetch and tag help burn off any excess energy as teammates and friends help to drag their tuckered out teammates back to the dorm to rest before the final day of the event. 

Ren sluggishly pads back to his shared room before collapsing into a heap of the bed, exhaustion of the day and transformation finally seeps into his body. Sleep tugs on him and is too tempting to not listen as he gives way to it and happily, contently drifts off to sleep. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have enjoyed reading and have a wonderful Valentines day <3


	4. Build Mart and Survival Games

It’s the last day of the championships and giddy excitement fills the air. All the contestants are pumped. Everyone gathers around the voting dome and waits in silence.

As they file into the dome the elevators are broken one last time before the start of the games. When the timer runs out the contestants are dropped into eggs and the chickens are released.

“The Game is, Build Mart!” The announcer yells excitedly. 

A ripple of excitement runs through the crowd. Most like the game and it’s amusing to watch the contestants run around trying to find blocks. Wings are allowed to be used this time as while it is possible to use the shopping carts it’s a bit uncomfortable, feathers getting pinched and all. 

A few seconds later the contestants are warped over to their build plots, the rules are explained and they are off.

Moments later contestants are rushing around gathering supplies. Shouting back and forth with their teams.

“Grian!” Tommy yells waving him over, “Hi, Uh I just thought you should know there’s a weird corner over there. Uh, yeah, Philza got his wing stuck.”

“Thanks,” Grian smiles, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

The game continues as normal, sure a few of the fans don’t like the fact Grian and Philza are allowed to fly but overall everything is going well.

Tommy runs towards his team's plot, the ground flickers for a moment before disappearing. Eyes wide Tommy jerks around trying to get his other foot back onto the solid ground. 

Spotting him Grian lets himself fall a few feet before landing and pulling Tommy back onto the ice.

Grian smiles softly before nodding and flapping off. 

A few minutes later something happens that makes all hell break loose.

Unfortunately, Grian has a little bird brain moment and his brain skips over the fact that there’s a glass pile in his way. Smacking into the cube Grian squawks as he lands on the ground, the other contestants freeze. 

A loud crack splits the air as Dream smacks right into the glass, “Ow,” His mask has a long crack running across the middle. 

Wilbur marches over, “This is why I carry the first aid kit.”

“Yeah, yeah, can I have the potion?”

Handing it over Wilbur rolls his eyes, handing him the healing potions, “Here.”

Seeing that the camera feeds have been cut, Dream takes his mask off and rubs his face, “That could have gone better.”

Ren trots over to Grian and helps him up, “You good man?”

“It’s just my ego.”

Unsurprisingly the winning team is the Red Ravens, They have some absolutely amazing builders who can easily memorize block patterns. There was a mild setback with the whole glass thing, but after that everything continued as normal

…….

It’s the final game, and everyone is on edge. Depending on the game it could make or break some of the leading teams.

The dome is dead silent with anticipation, all the teams slightly nervous to see the outcome. The eggs open and the contestants drop in. As the chickens are released all breaths are held to see what the game will be.

“And the last game is... THE SURVIVAL GAMES!” The announcers scream in unison.

Many contestants scream in excitement as others groan knowing there’s no way they have a shot at this.

Once the buzzer rings all hell breaks loose, teams scatter in all directions. Somehow Dream is shoot out as he runs away from the middle area.

The other teams stick close together. Grian flies out of range of most of the players. Fundy manages to shoot him right out of the sky and Tommy finishes the job. Shortly after Ren gets Fundy out. The contestants that are out are sent to watch from a platform where they playfully mess around and cheer for their team.

One by one the contestants are picked off until there’s only a handful left, Philza, Tommy, Techno, and False. 

Shooting the Queen of hearts, Techno grins, “Now it’s just us old man.”

“I think you’ve forgotten something,” Philza grins as he swings his sword up to block his blow.

“And what would that be,” Techno asks as he carefully adjusts his pig mask; if this is the last fight of the game it’s going to be a good one.

“Me,” Tommy cackles as he swiftly drops onto his back.

“But you can’t fight,” Techno snarks, “You tried to kill me with the Arctic Empire business.”

“Yeah, but I’ve learned from the best, you.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere,” Techno laughs as he tosses Tommy into the fountain.

“Sure but I’m not the one you should have been watching.”

“Sorry Man,” Philza grins as Techno poofs into smoke.

Helping Tommy out of the fountain Philza swiftly starts fighting and even though Tommy loses his grin remains as bright as ever.

The winning team as expected is the Purple Parrots. Regardless of the fact that Dream was taken out almost immediately, Techno, Wilbur, and Finnster are still a pretty solid team.

In Second place, the Green Gazelles cheer ecstatically, they’ve actually got a chance to win this thing.

…….

As the contestants hug each other Techno wanders up to Tommy, “You did good,” He murmurs as he messes up his hair.

Tommy beams up at him.

“Come on nerd,” Techno grins as he pulls him over to the rest areas. 

…..

Doc and Zedaph are wandering around in the small shopping area for the championships. Doc had wanted to grab some food and Zedaph accidentally followed after.

“Doc?” A voice echoes slightly, “That you dude?”

“Hey Mango,” Doc waves at the squirrel, “Hey, Methodzz.”

“Hi,” The slime with the Redstone torch shoved into his head grins. 

“We haven’t seen you in ages,” Ilmango grins his tail flicking.

Doc grins as he walks over to talk to his friends. Hooves clicking softly Zedaph follows close behind. 

“Your Zedaph right?” Methodzz asks grinning, “Doc has shown us the contraptions in your base. They are super creative.”

“Thank you,” Zedaph bleats softly.

Ilmango grins, “So Doc, what have you been doing?”

“I made a tunnel bore… not to fancy.”

“Oh, do you have something to flood the area behind?”

“No,” Doc grins, “That would probably be helpful though.”

As they continue chatting Zedaph fiddles with the hem of his shirt.

Looking over Doc meets his eyes, “You want to know about the velocity thing don’t you.” 

Zedaph nods, “A little bit yeah.”

“Hey Magno, have you ever tested the squirrel terminal velocity thing?”

“I have, it doesn’t work for me, but I can glide like a flying squirrel can.”

“Wait really?” Zedaph asks.

“Yeah, I have to wear loose clothes for it to work, otherwise I just fall.”

Doc grins as they continue to chat for a while before moving back over to the hermits' box.

……..

A soft knock on the door of the hermit's box draws their attention. 

Xisuma walks over to the door and grins, “Hey Pungence, you looking for Bdubs?”

“Uh, yeah, is he here?”

“Dude I have said it before and I will say it again, you sound exactly like him,” Tango laughs.

“I mean, that’s fair. We are brothers,” Pugnace grins.

“Yeah he’s in here, come on in,” Xisuma grins from behind his mask.

“Sleeping?” Pungence guesses.

Doc waves them over, “Yeah, he should wake up in a few minutes.”

“So uh, how have you guys been?”

Xisuma shrugs, “Meh, all things considered, it’s been pretty ok.”

Impulse nods, “Yeah, the meteor has been pretty quiet for a while... someone will probably get affected when we get back.”

“Well, that-” 

“Puns?” Bdubs yawns, “What are you doing here?”

“What, I’m not allowed to see my brother?”

Now fully awake Bdubs rolls his solid green eyes, “Not what I meant and you know it.”

“Yeah yeah, I heard you were over here and I wanted to say hi.”

Bdubs grins, “Ha.”

“How have you been?”

Puffing his breath out Bdubs shrugs, “It’s just a bit stressful, I’ve never been the best at keeping time and I keep falling asleep in random spots.”

“That doesn’t sound too good.”

“Not really,” he agrees, “But yeah, Uh the server has a bunch of little rooms that we can sleep in.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah,” Bdubs smiles, flashing his fangs as his tail twitches. The brothers continue to chat until the first round of dodgebolt starts.

…….

“It’s come down to the moment you have all been waiting for, Dodgebolt!” One of the announcers yells.

“The final two teams are the Purple Parrots, with Technoblade, Dream, Wilbur, and Finnster. We also have the Green gazelle, with False Symmetry, CubFan, Philza, and Scott Major!”

“Both teams are incredibly talented and at the moment it’s anyone’s game.”

As the teams drop into the pit the other contestants gather by the edges.

The arrows are dropped in and the first round begins. Both teams duck and dodge the arrows. The first hit is from Philza and Dream is out.

Techno takes a deep breath and lets an arrow fly moments later Scott is out. 

Soon after False hits Wilbur out. 

Cub hits Finnster out and Techno swiftly pulls back aims carefully and is shot by False.

With that, the Green Gazelles have a point.

The teammates are returned to the pit as the countdown ends and they start again, Dream grabs his bow and grins before hitting Philza out of the game only to be tagged out moments later.

False grins as she backs away from the line. 

Taking careful aim Techno shoots, False ducks out of the way and Scott poofs into code.

With both arrows on the green side, it doesn’t take long for Wilbur and Finnster to get out.

Seeing his team dwindling Techo sucks in a breath, Cub and False are running around making it hard for him to shoot them he lets a shot fly, and Cub poofs into code. 

False scoops the arrow up, pulls back, and fires. 

“That’s another point for the Green Gazelles!” The announcer screams, “They need just one more point to win.” 

The Purple Parrots look at each other nervously. If the Gazelle win one more round they’re toast.

Moving fast, Dream snatches the arrow and shoots it right at Philza’s chest. In a flash, he’s gone.

Cub shoots at Techno and misses. Techno returns the favor and hits his target.

With only two members left False and Scott pulls back and shoot. Scott’s arrow flies into Finnster. False misses her mark and a moment later both she and Scott are shot out. 

As the fourth round begins the air is deathly still. The parrots have a short conversation as the arrows drop. Neither team wants to make the first move. After a moment Cub darts forwards, grabbing the arrow he fires it and Wilbur is gone.

Dream kicks into action, grabbing the arrow and shooting Cub. 

False and Techno rush for the dropped arrows. 

Taking careful aim False hits Finnster, Techno takes his shot, but a panicked flap from Philza’s wings buffet it into a wall barely missing Scott.

With the Score of two to three, Techno and Dream are a bit apprehensive. Dream grabs his arrow and is about to shoot when Scott fires his bow and hits him right in the chest.

Techno pales slightly as he shoots False, mere seconds after she vanishes Philza takes his shot.

“THE GREEN GAZELLES HAVE WON!!!” The announcers scream in unison.

As they file onto the winner's stage False grins over to where the rest of the hermits are watching. The crowns are plopped onto their heads and the tournament is over. 

……..

“Uh, what! How the hell did they win?” One of the viewer's shrieks.

“Look at them, they’ve all got powers and stuff, no way that was a real game.”

“Guys stop, just because the watchers can’t do anything to help them get rid of the thing doing this to them it doesn’t mean they’re cheating.”

The first one to talk looks at their friends, “Let's just go.” 

“I don’t like this, but yeah, this is a dumb argument. I still think they cheated.” 

……

As the contestants get ready to leave the server they form into server groups and walk over to where the server warps are located. 

They’ve changed out of team uniforms and are back in the normal outfits.

Grian is piggybacking with Ren since it’s a fairly long walk back to the warp plaza. The plaza is located in the back of the viewing area. The entire back wall is covered with shimmering portals. 

“That was an amazing game guys,” Dream grins walking up to False and Cub.

“That it was,” False replies with a knowing grin. 

The contestants' mill about and chatter for a while. Promises to win next time and that the rematches will be incredible.

The younger contestants are running around in a game of ninja. Tagging each other and laughing.

“Ok, the portals are set up to take you guys home,” Scott grins, “Thanks for playing.”

“Dude this was flipping awesome,” Hbomb grins.

As the contestants regroup with their servers a few lingering fans walk over to say hi and for autographs.

Some of them look over at the hermits, Grian flairs his wings open and waves.

The fur on Cub’s tail puffs up as one of the viewers walks up to them.

Looking over Tommy walks over, “Hey Cub, Tubbo said you have a game floor on your pyramid.”

“That I do,” He grins, thankful for the distraction, “I have a bunch of games and I’ll be adding more.”

“You hermits are crazy,” Tommy grins.

“That we are.”

As a few more fans walk up, the contestants start to freeze up, “Those are some seriously bad vibes,” Pete murmurs.

Turning towards the warp portals the hermits nod and start to walk over. The other contestants can tell that they’re pretty uncomfortable so they head towards the portals with them.

Then the shouting begins.

“Freaks!”

“Cheaters!” 

“Liars!”

“Monsters!” 

“Abominations!”

“Unnatural!”

“Come on you have to be doing this to yourselves. No way this is unwilling,” A particularly snappy deer hybrid bleats, “The watchers shut down every operation, you probably blame it on the hunk of rock or something and reset the operation.”

Grian’s wings flair out, and quiver softly as he brings his hands up, “Hey, Tommy, grab his hand,” Ren barks softly as he grabs Grian’s other hand, “Gman listen to me.”

Grian blinks and flaps his wings. 

Looking over at Ren, Tommy asks, “Why?”

“He’s having a bit of a panic attack, He plucks his feathers if he doesn’t have anything else,” Ren explains as he waves iskall over, “Grab the red ball from my bag?”

Iskall nods and pulls the rubber ball out and gently hands it to Grian, “Here dude.”

Grian takes the ball and clutches it with both hands, chirping softly he fluffs his wings up.

As the admins quickly ban the people screaming the remaining contestants jump through the portal. Everyone being sorted neatly onto their servers.

“Grian are you ok?” Mumbo asks, his eyes turning blue. The bird curls into his side and grabs one of the hand puzzles from inside of a barrel. The spawn room is full of hermits wanting to congratulate their friends. 

“Where the fuck am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cleo is up next for real this time
> 
> Let me know what you think

**Author's Note:**

> he Dream SMP is a show put on by a group of friends, they started as a joke but it got insanely popular. It works like this because if I had everything working like it was real the watchers would have intervened and put a stop to all the wars. If you need more explanations feel free to ask me.
> 
> I hope you have enjoyed reading and have a wonderful Day/Night. 
> 
> Let me know what you think of this and if you would like to see some of the Dream SMP Dudes in the meteor effects :)


End file.
